Tuesday, October 13, 2020

'The Last Dance' and 'The Apollo' showcase diversity in documentaries at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards

I told my readers "I was planning on continuing my coverage of the Emmy Awards today, but I'm just not feeling it...Don't worry, I'll get to it, especially since I have the next planned entry mostly written already" to open and close 'SNL' satirizes the vice-presidential debate and puts the news in the context of Mental Health Awareness Week. After posting Coffee Party USA announces the 2018-2019 Golden Coffee Cup Television Winners! and TV news reports on Indigenous Peoples Day plus comedy for Canadian Thanksgiving, I'm finally ready to deliver. The result is a grab bag of sports, true crime, entertainment, and religion out of which I can only pull out one connecting thread — the awards for "The Last Dance" and "The Apollo" show that Black stories matter.

I begin with what I wrote about "The Last Dance" in 'Tiger King' vs. 'McMillion$' - big cats and true crime at the Emmy Awards for World Lion Day.

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
American Masters (PBS)
Hillary (Hulu)
The Last Dance (ESPN)
McMillion$ (HBO)
Tiger King (Netflix)
"Tiger King" may be the last show listed alphabetically, but it's the first in terms of nominations with six. Moving up the list is the next most nominated series, "McMillion$" with five nominations. Continuing to the head of the alphabet, "The Last Dance" has three nominations, while "Hillary" and "American Masters" each have one.

In addition to the true crime angle shared by "Tiger King" and "McMillion$," the two shows also explore politics and government in their own ways. Joe Exotic ran for the Libertarian nomination for Governor of Oklahoma in 2018. He came in last, proving that some candidates are too weird even for the Libertarians. The stars of "McMillion$" are the FBI agents who cracked the case and the FBI, like all law enforcement, are part of the government. Finally, "Hillary" is about the life and career of Hillary Clinton, First Lady, U.S. Senator, and Democratic nominee for President, so it's definitely about politics and government. Meanwhile, "The Last Dance" is about sports, namely Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, and "American Masters" focuses on artists of various kinds. It's a consistent nominee, but hasn't won since 2014.
...
While I'm not optimistic about the chances of "The Last Dance" winning an Emmy, I can at least say its subjects are inspiring instead of criminal, although the FBI agents in "McMillion$" come close.
I was even more dismissive of the awards prospects of "The Last Dance" in 'The Cave' vs. 'American Factory' — Oscar nominees and other documentaries at the Emmy Awards."'The Last Dance' may have to be satisfied with its Black Reel Awards for Television 2020 win for Outstanding TV Documentary or Special, at least until the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards this fall, where it might qualify for Best Sports Documentary." I was less pessimistic about its chances at the 2020 Television Critics Association Awards, "Out of all the documentary nominees I examined in 'Tiger King' vs. 'McMillion$' — big cats and true crime at the Emmy Awards for World Lion Day and 'The Cave' vs. 'American Factory' — Oscar nominees and other documentaries at the Emmy Awards, I would say it's between "McMillion$" and "The Last Dance" for the most likely to win this category." It ended up being "The Last Dance" that won Outstanding Achievement in News and Information at the Television Critics Association Awards.



If I had been paying more attention to that win and my own changing opinion, I would have been less surprised when it won 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Documentary or Non-Fiction Series.

The team from The Last Dance wins the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Series.
Congratulations! When sports were delayed or cancelled because of the pandemic, "The Last Dance" filled the void. In that way, it provided a public service by way of documentary television.

Next, my discussion of "The Apollo" from 'The Cave' vs. 'American Factory' — Oscar nominees and other documentaries at the Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special

The Apollo (HBO)
Beastie Boys Story (Apple TV+)
Becoming (Netflix)
The Great Hack (Netflix)
Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time (EPIX)
The most nominated entry is "Beastie Boys Story" with five nominations, followed by "Becoming" with four, "Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time" with three, and "The Apollo" and "The Great Hack" with one each. While the explicitly political documentaries are "Becoming" about Michelle Obama and "The Great Hack" about Cambridge Analytica, I think one of the three music documentaries will win. Hollywood loves a good show about entertainment and, while none of these are about movies and television, music comes close. That's why I suspect "Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time" might be favored over "Beastie Boys Story." Laurel Canyon is in the Hollywood hills, while the Beastie Boys are from New York.
Well, I was right that "one of the three music documentaries will win." Watch 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Documentary or Non-Fiction Special to see which one.

The team from The Apollo wins the Emmy for Oustanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Special.
Congratulations to the director and producers of "The Apollo" and kudos to the Emmy voters for surprising me in not favoring Hollywood over New York. Also, between "The Apollo" and "The Last Dance," the Emmy voters demonstrate that Black stories matter, which will be a theme in future installments

Follow over the jump for the remaining winners of nonfiction programming.

Now for the other winner I examined in 'Tiger King' vs. 'McMillion$' - big cats and true crime at the Emmy Awards for World Lion Day that I haven't featured until today.

Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming

Beastie Boys Story, written by Mike Diamond, Spike Jonze, and Adam Horovitz (Apple TV+)
The Cave, written by Alisar Hassan and Feras Fayyad (Nat Geo)
Circus of Books, written by Rachel Mason and Kathryn Robson (Netflix)
Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer (Episode: "Closing the Net"), written by Mark Lewis (Netflix)
McMillion$ (Episode: "Episode 1"), written by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte (HBO)
I moved the last award alphabetically up here because it was the one category that included "McMillion$" but not "Tiger King." I would say "McMillion$" would be the favorite except that it's up against Oscar nominee "The Cave." The latter is also nominated for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and two other awards in addition to this one, so it's a strong contender. So is "Beastie Boys Story," which earned nominations for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and four awards including writing, making it another strong contender. Any one of the three could win. On the other hand, this is the only nomination for "Circus of Books" and "Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer," so I don't think either has much of a chance. Just the same, the presence of "Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer" shows that "McMillion$" still can't get away from the intersection of animals and true crime, even when it's not competing with "Tiger King."
Watch the announcement and acceptance of the awards in 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Writing for a Non-Fiction Program.

The team from Don't F**k With Cats wins the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Non-Fiction Program.
Surprise! I didn't consider this seriously and I should have. Good luck to winning writer Mark Lewis and may his sunny surroundings inspire him with his current project, whatever that is.

I conclude with one final category from 'The Cave' vs. 'American Factory' — Oscar nominees and other documentaries at the Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (Netflix)
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (A&E)
Ugly Delicious (Netflix)
Vice (Showtime)
The World According to Jeff Goldblum (Disney+)
This is the category "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" dominated for six years and his absence is palpable. As I wrote last year, "Anthony Bourdain was a great writer right up until the end. I will miss him." So does this category. With his show over, there are no multiple nominees here, so I can't use that criterion to handicap the competition. Instead, I will resort to previous wins and nominations. According to that method, "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath" is the clear favorite, as it has won before and has been nominated every year since. The next best bet would be "Vice," which tied "Parts Unknown" six years ago and has been a multiple, if not consecutive, nominee since. The dark horse would be "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," which was nominated last year. I'm still going with "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath," as it's a story about Hollywood, which Hollywood loves.
This is the only category in today's post that I picked correctly. Watch 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Hosted Non-Fiction Series or Special.

The team from Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath wins the Emmy for Outstanding Hosted Non-Fiction Series or Special.
Congratulations to Remini for winning bookend Emmy Awards for her series about Scientology, which I have been an infrequent critic of on this blog. May she go on to bigger and better things now that this series is over.

I'll get around to the reality and competition winners later, but first I have some restaurant bankruptcies to cover. Stay tuned.

Previous posts about the 2020 Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards
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